A British woman who was tortured for seven hours and had her throat slashed in front of her twin sons has been forced to write to her attacker, and could face jail herself if she refuses. According to reports, Natalie Allman, 29, feared for her life as she was battered with a dumb-bell and required reconstructive surgery after evil Jason Hughes, 42, left her with deep lacerations on her neck. He also tried to suffocate her with a pillow. Natalie survived the horrific attack, which left her with eight wounds to her head and five broken bones in her face. Jason was ­sentenced to nine years in 2012 to 9 years in prison for the assault.

But now a judge has ordered Ms Allman must send three letters a year to Hughes, updating him on their five-year-old boys, including photographs, every Easter, September and December. The order has been made under parental rights laws, and if Ms Allman does not comply she will be in contempt of court, and could be imprisoned. Ms Allman said: "We are the victims, not him. I thought he was going to kill me that night for no reason and my boys saw that. They were terrified. "'I'm so angry that the law still defends his parental rights and that he is still being allowed to control us from behind bars. "I couldn't believe it. I could end up being split up from my children and sent to prison when he was the one who attacked me. I'm the one being treated like a criminal."'.... On February 3, 2011, as Ms Allman lay in bed, Hughes launched the terrifying seven-hour attack on his ex, attempting to smother her with a pillow before repeatedly bludgeoning her with a dumb bell. Ms Allman had told Winchester Crown Court how she had woken up to find Hughes sitting astride her hitting her with the weight. He then used the blade from a mini-tool to slash a 20cm-long cut across her throat, narrowly missing her major artery by a few millimetres. Hughes, who had received training with bayonets and knives as part of his Army training, only let Ms Allman call an ambulance seven hours later. When officers arrived at the home they found the couple's terrified sons, then two, in bed with their mother and covered in blood. She was rushed to Hereford Hospital and Hughes was arrested by officers at the scene.... Defending Hughes, Abigail Nixon said if Hughes had intended to kill Natalie then he could have done so because of his military training. Ms Nixon said: "His intention was to cause a hideous scar she could not hide if she had dressed up to look pretty. "'He was trying to make her look ugly to other men."